


I Won't Back Down

by fiveainley_ohmy



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Labyrinth Fusion, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-07-17 19:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16101920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveainley_ohmy/pseuds/fiveainley_ohmy
Summary: When Waverly Earp accidently wishes away her sister to the Demon Queen Jolene (ha, rhymes), she has thirteen hours to make it through the labyrinth and get to the Queen's castle before both Wynonna and Waverly are trapped in Jolene's queendom forever.





	1. Chapter 1

Mama used to read Wynonna the story of the Labyrinth.

" _Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered...I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the demon city, to take back the child you have stolen._ "

Wynonna laid her head on Mama's pregnant stomach. "Will the demons ever take the baby?" she asked.

Mama smiled at her. "Not if you protect each other from them."

Wynonna looked at the stomach bulge. "Hear that, baby girl? I'll never let the demons take you."

"How do you know it's going to be a girl?" Mama asked, chuckling with amusement.

"I can just tell. Sisters have a special bond," said Wynonna resolutely.

"Maybe you're right. Now, let me finish the story."

* * *

After Mama went to the hospital, and Daddy and Willa died, Wynonna and Waverly were pretty much all each other had. So Wynonna read the same story to her.

" _For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great. You have no power over me._ "

Little Waverly yawned, cuddling into the crook of Wynonna's arm and falling asleep.

Wynonna cuddled her close. "No matter what happens, baby girl," she whispered fiercely, "I'll always be here for you."


	2. Chapter 2

_20 years later..._

Wynonna burst through the front door, shoulders sagging. "Wa-aves!" she called slurringly. "I'm hoooome!"

Waverly got up from her chair where she'd been sitting, waiting up for her sister. "You said you'd be home by 10! I've been worried sick about you!"

"Whaddya mean, I'm  _early!_ "

"It's 2 o'clock in the morning!" Waverly exclaimed.

"Exactly!" Wynonna grinned. "I'm eight hours early! That's pretty good, considering my track record." She hiccupped. "Say, why do they call it a track record, anyway? It sounds like something a DJ would have-"

" _Wynonna!_ " Waverly snapped. "You have a problem! You used to come home drunk sometimes, but you've been doing this nearly every night for the last two months! What's wrong with you?!"

"Hey!" Wynonna shouted, pointing a finger at her. "I don't criticize your life, don't tell me how to live mine!"

"You come home late, you wake up hungover every morning, you can't hold down a job-"

"Well what about you?!" Wynonna retorted. "Little Miss  _Perfect_ , with your perfect grades and your perfect attitude and your perfectly functioning liver!  _Sorry_ that I don't live up to your standards, princess."

"I'm not asking you to be perfect, I'm asking you to start being responsible," Waverly scolded.

" _Responsible?!_ I've been _responsible_ my whole Goddamn life!" Wynonna shrieked, grabbing a book off of a shelf and tossing it at the wall. "Who took care of you when Mama went insane?! When Daddy died and Willa disappeared! Who the hell was it?! Sorry that you had to get stuck with a fuck up like me!" Wynonna stomped up the stairs to her room.

Waverly inhaled, willing herself not to cry. She let it out, then went to pick up the book that Wynonna had thrown. When she did, she saw that it was  _The Labyrinth_ , the book Wynonna had read to her so many times when they were little. When things seemed so much simpler.

Waverly opened the book to one of the last pages, to when the heroine finally faced off with the Demon Queen, Jolene (Waverly and Wynonna had always laughed that it rhymed). " _For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great...you have no power over me_ ," she muttered the old familiar lines to herself. Whenever they'd played Labyrinth as kids, Wynonna had always made her play the baby.

 _But the baby doesn't say anything!_ Waverly had protested.

 _Yeah, but I'm the big sister!_ Wynonna argued back.

Waverly stared at the depiction of the Demon Queen. Her emerald green eyes pierced her from the pages of the book, and Waverly shuddered. Even now the illustration was chilling. Waverly had had nightmares of the Demon Queen when they were children, so often that eventually Aunt Gus had forbidden Wynonna to read Waverly the story anymore. The hairs on the back of Waverly's neck raised, and she felt as though she were being watched. She quickly shut the book and put it away.

Waverly trod upstairs, exhausted from waiting up all this time for Wynonna. As she passed Wynonna's room, she saw Wynonna strewn across her own bed, her shoes and jacket still on. She was fast asleep, snoring away like a buzzsaw.

Waverly stared at her miserably. "I wish the demons would take you away," she said before she even knew the words were coming out of her mouth. "Right now."

She turned and started walking toward her room again. But then she stopped.

Wynonna wasn't snoring anymore.

Oh shit. What if she had thrown up in her sleep? What if she was choking on her own vomit?!

"Wynonna?" said Waverly, hurrying back into the room. "Are you al-...-right..."

Wynonna had vanished.

"Wynonna?" Waverly said again. "Where are you? This isn't funny!" She pulled open the door of Wynonna's closet, but all there were were clothes. She checked under the bed. "Wynonna?!" Waverly shrieked.

Suddenly she heard a high pitched giggle, and a dark shape moved out of the corner of her eye.

"Wynonna?" Waverly whipped her head around, but nothing was there.

Suddenly the window flew open by itself, a huge gust of wind blowing in. Waverly shrieked as she saw  _them_ \--the shadows.

They creeped in through the open window, and flew around the room, like a black dust storm. Waverly willed herself not to shake with fear as they swirled around her.

Then suddenly, the shadows converged in front of the open window into a humanoid form. Then those shadows became the black satin sleeves and full skirt and train of a gown--the gown of the Demon Queen.

Jolene smiled wickedly at her. "Good evening, Waverly."


	3. Chapter 3

Waverly took a step back. "No way...you're not real. You're just a story!"

"If I'm just a story, then where's your sister?" Jolene smirked.

Waverly swallowed. "Please...give her back."

"Now why would I do a thing like that," Jolene asked, "when you gave her away so easily?"

"I didn't mean it," Waverly said, shaking her head fervently.

"You don't deserve the things you have, Waverly Earp, you ungrateful brat. Maybe Wynonna will like it better in my domain, where she doesn't have to be responsible. Where nagging little sisters aren't always guilting her about her shortcomings."

"Please,  _please_ , give her back. I love my sister. We're all each other have in this world," Waverly begged. "I'll do anything. Let me go to your castle and save her, like the girl in the book does."

Jolene scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You'll never succeed. You're no match for my power. And even if you were, what makes you think I'd even give a stupid little parasite like yourself a chance to win her back?"

"Because...because if I can't save her, you can have me too."

Jolene raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

Waverly nodded. "Yes. Two prisoners for the price of one."

"It is a pretty sweet deal...plus there's  _no_ way you'll defeat my labyrinth...alright. It's a wager." Jolene pointed over Waverly's shoulder. "You have thirteen hours to make your way to my castle and take back your sister."

Waverly turned around to see that they were no longer in Wynonna's room, but on the outskirts of the Demon Kingdom. In the distance was the castle, and before that, the great Labyrinth. "Right. Easy peasy,'' said Waverly determinedly.

"Oh don't think just because you've read the book, you're going to breeze through," Jolene scoffed. "It's been years since that girl was in my kingdom. I've had ample time to build a better mousetrap." She cackled. "Good luck, Waverly Earp. You're going to need it!"

Waverly looked back, but Jolene had disappeared. Waverly looked back at the Labyrinth and gulped. "Well...come on, feet," she said, starting down the trail. At least her boots were made for walking.


	4. Chapter 4

When Waverly finally reached the labyrinth's mighty stone walls, she was dismayed to see no apparent door into the maze. How the hell was she supposed to get in?

Waverly sighed. T minus 12 hours and 53 minutes, and already she was at a loss. Oh well. She wasn't going to give up that easily.

Waverly spotted a small fountain sitting nearby and thought to herself, _this might be my last chance to get a drink before I get myself tangled up in this maze. Might as well._ Waverly bent at the water's edge to cup some of the water into her hands when suddenly, a hidden spout sprayed her with water. "Hey! Get out of here, freeloader!" the statue on the fountain croaked at her.

"Uh, sorry!" Waverly said, jumping back in surprise. Great. No door, no drink, and now her shirt was all wet. She stripped it off over her head.

"Oh! Uh, excuse me!"

Waverly looked up to see..."Oh _wow_..."

A beautiful, rust colored unicorn was standing there, its head turned away and its eyes closed. Then Waverly realized she was in her bra. "Oh, shit!" She held her shirt in front of her. "I thought I was alone out here."

"No, no, it's my fault. I should've warned you about the fountain," the unicorn said in a feminine voice. She cautiously opened her deep brown eyes to look at her. "It tends to squirt."

"Heh. Yeah, got that." Waverly cleared her throat, blushing. "Well, since you've seen my bra, you might as well know my name. I'm Waverly."

"I'm N-Hauggle. I'm Hauggle."

"Uh, nice to meet you." Waverly pulled her damp shirt back on and stood up. "Well, um...do you have any idea how to get in there?"

Hauggle's eyes widened. "You want to go into the labyrinth? Why?" she asked, mystified.

"Because I have to get in there and save my sister. The Demon Queen took her away from me."

"Then you'll probably never see her again," said Hauggle, hanging her head morosely. "The Queen is too powerful to anyone to defeat...trust me on that."

"Hey, I know a girl was able to save her baby brother from the Queen once. If it happened once, it can happen again, right?"

Hauggle shook her head. "Trust me, you don't want to go in there. Just go back home."

"I can't, Hauggle," said Waverly. "My sister's always been there for me. I have to be there for her too. I can't just leave her here. Besides, I struck a bargain with the Queen. Either I save Wynonna and we escape, or I don't, and we're both stuck here forever."

Hauggle's eyes widened. "What?! Why would you do that?!"

"It seemed like the only to convince Jolene to let me try to save her. She really seems to hate me."

Hauggle exhaled. "Then I guess...you have to try. Okay. The front gate is there." She raised a hoof and pointed it at a spot behind Waves.

"Where?" Waverly looked over her shoulder at the labyrinth wall...to see that a large, open gate had appeared there. "That wasn't there before."

"Nothing's what it seems here," Hauggle said in a warning tone of voice. "Remember that."

Waverly stood up. "Well, I guess I'm going in. Are you coming?"

"Uh uh." Hauggle shook her head again, quickly. "No way am I pissing off the Queen."

Waverly sighed. She kind of liked the unicorn. She would have appreciated her company and guidance through the maze. "Okay. Well...wish me luck, Hauggle."

"Good luck," whispered Hauggle as Waverly strode toward the gate.

* * *

Waverly found herself standing in the middle of a long, unending stretch of maze. For as far as she could see, in either direction, she couldn’t see any turnoffs. "What kind of a maze is this?" Waverly grumbled. "Well...I guess I have to choose one way or another." She decided to go right and started jogging.

For what felt like hours, Waverly hurried down the endless stone corridor, but no matter how far she ran, she couldn't see any path to take other than the one she was on. "Ugh!" she exclaimed, out of breath and frustrated. She flopped down against the wall. "This is hopeless!" she grumbled. "It just goes on and on!"

"Come in for a cuppa tea?"

Waverly jumped at the sudden small voice. "Who's there?"

"Me, of course. Who'd you think?"

 Waverly looked around. Then she spotted by her left arm, an aquarium embedded in the wall of the labyrinth. A friendly looking fish was staring out at her through the glass. It waved its fin at her. "Did...did you just talk to me?" Waves squeaked.

"Sure I did!" said the fish. "Nobody else around who could have, is there? 'Cept for the mister, of course."

Another fish poked its head out of the ceramic castle in the tank and said, "Hello!", then promptly disappeared again.

"Would you like to come in? Levi makes a lovely cup of the tea," said the fish.

"Um...no thank you," Waverly said. "I just need to find a way through this maze."

"What do you mean? There's lots of ways," the fish said.

"Well I can't seem to find any of them."

"There's one right in front of you."

Waverly looked at the wall across from her. "No there isn't."

"Sure there is! You're just not looking hard enough."

"I am too!" Waverly exclaimed, getting to her feet. "Look it's solid as a-" Waverly's hand passed through the air where she thought the surface of the wall would be. "Brick," Waves said faintly. She took a curious step forward and found that it was indeed, an opening. It had just been hard to see. "Oh wow! Thank you, Fish!" Waverly said excitedly, entering the new corridor and taking off.

"No, not that way!"

Waves look back at Fish. "Huh?"

"The  _other_ way," said the fish.

"Oh. Thanks again!" Waverly turned and went the opposite way.

The fish shook his head after she'd gone. "Silly girl. If she'd gone  _that_ way, it'd taken her right to the Queen's castle!"

"Ambrose! Your tea's getting cold!" Levi called from the castle.


	5. Chapter 5

Now that she was back on track, Waverly felt much more determined as she weaved her way through the labyrinth. She wondered how long she had been at this. It couldn’t possibly have been more than an hour.  _Okay, twelve more to go. I can do this!_

After a while she reached two figures, one in red armor, one in blue, each standing in front of a door. Waverly gasped, remembering this from the story. 

“Hello!” said the one in blue. “Want to step through my door?”

”No no, you should come though mine,” said the one in red.

”Don’t listen to him, he always lies,” said Blue.

”No, _he’s_ the liar,” insisted Red.

”Shut up!” Waverly shouted. “Okay...in the book, the girl went through the blue door, and she fell down into the oubliette. So if I go through the red one, I’ll be at the castle! Right?”

“Right!” exclaimed Red.

”No!” Blue said.

”Wynonna, here I come!” said Waverly, opening the red door and stepping through...and falling.

” _Ahhhhhhhhh!_ ” screeched Waves. Damn Jolene—she must have switched the doors!

Down and down she plummeted, but suddenly she felt... _something_...grasp her by the legs and arms and waist. "Hey, watch where you're putting those!" she snapped.

"We're just trying to help," said a voice.

"Who are you?!" Waverly said.

"Why, we're Helping Hands, of course," said another voice.

Oh right. Waverly remembered this too. "And now you'll send me up or down, right?"

"Did she say down?"

"Why do they always pick down?"

"No, no, I didn't say-!" Waverly screeched again as the hands dropped her.

After a moment, she landed on her butt. "Ugh! Some help those hands were," she grumbled. Then she realized she'd landed on a pile of pillows. "Huh? How'd these get here?"

"I put them there," said a voice, and Waverly turned to see Hauggle standing in a pile of hay across the room. They were in a darkly lit cellar of some kind, with a dusty, hay strewn floor, and a couple of dingy oil lamps that cast long shadows on the wall. Hauggle sighed. "I knew you'd fall down here eventually."

Waverly scrambled to her feet. "Thanks," she said. She looked around. "Is this the oubliette?"

"Yes," said Hauggle with a mournful nod. "This is where _she_ puts things she wants forgotten. Like me."

"Do you sleep in here?" Waverly gasped.

"Yes...there's still time, you know. You could beg her to let you go, and be free."

"I told you, I'm not leaving my sister. I can't just leave her with Jolene."

"I'm glad you're not giving up so quickly, Waverly," said another voice. Waverly jumped and Hauggle cringed as Jolene emerged from the shadows. Jolene smirked at the younger Earp sister. "I'm looking forward to adding your soul to my collection, as well as your sister's."

Waverly glared at her. "I wouldn't count on that if I were you."

Jolene laughed nastily. "Such a spunky little brat...hello, Hauggle. Making friends?"

Hauggle whinneyed nervously. "I'm sorry, your Majesty."

"No, no. It's alright." Jolene combed her hand through Hauggle's silky mane. "After all, Waverly might be down here for a while. You two should get acquainted."

"How could you put her up in this hole?!" Waverly said in disgust.

"I could have just slaughtered her, but I decided to be nice," said Jolene. "See, little Waverly? I can be generous, but be warned, I can be cruel."

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me how to get out of here," said Waverly.

"Aren't you the  _smart_ sister?" Jolene mocked. "Why don't you figure it out...see you later, Waverly." She melted into shadows and disappeared.

Waverly looked at Hauggle. "That shadow thing she does must be a convenient way to travel."

"She's very powerful, Waverly. Don't piss her off," said Hauggle.

"Hey, how do you get in and out of here?" Waverly asked suddenly.

"I...I can't tell you."

"Sure you can!"

"I'm sorry, Waverly," said Hauggle, shaking. "She'll be mad if I do. She'll punish me."

"Wow...she must have done something awful to you to make you so afraid of her."

Hauggle hung her head.

"Hauggle,  _please_. I need to get out of here and save my sister, and the clock is ticking," Waverly pled. "Please."

Hauggle hesitated, then sighed. "Okay. I'll show you." She clopped across the floor and thumped her hoof against a secret panel in the wall. The panel swung open like a door.

"Oh, thank you!" Waverly squealed, hugging the unicorn around the neck. "Come with me. We can protect each other if the Demon Queen tries to attack either of us."

"Well...she sure does seem afraid of you for some reason...okay. I'll come with you." Hauggle ducked her head and followed Waverly out the small door.


	6. Chapter 6

_“STOP_ _!”_ bellowed a deep voice as the girl and unicorn weaved their way through a narrow stone passageway.

Waverly jumped. “Hauggle, the wall just moved. And it _talked_.”

”Yeah, it does that. Just ignore them.”

 _”Go no further!”_ faces in the wall continued to wail as Waverly and Hauggle passed them.

” _Beware! Death and destruction lie ahead!”_

_”Turn back now, or meet certain death!”_

”Oh shut up, would you,” Hauggle huffed.

The wall poured at her. “Aww, but I never get to do my bit.”

Hauggle sighed. “Oh alright, but make it fast.”

”Oh, thank you!” The wall cleared its throat.  _“The cold and clammy hand of death will come for THEE!”_

Hauggle rolled her big brown eyes. “Come on, Waves.”

They emerged at a T-section in a sewer type place, and Waverly plugged her nose. “Pee-yew.”

”You said it,” Hauggle said.

”Well, where to now?”

Hauggle pointed her hoof to the left. “This way.”

”’Ello, me dears, out for a walk on this lovely day?”

Waverly and Hauggle turned at the sound of the voice and saw a beggar woman dressed in heaps of rags ambling toward toward them. The woman held out her hand, and a clear orb sat in the center of it. “Interested in this, me lamb?” she said to Waverly. “It’ll guide you to your sister much faster than this worthless nag can.”

”Waverly, don’t touch it, it’s a trick,” said Hauggle.

The beggar woman laughed deeply, all the rasp gone from her voice. She dissolved into shadows and reformed into Jolene. “Clever girl, Hauggle. Of course, I hope you don’t think you’re so clever than you give our little Waverly assistance without my knowledge, do you?”

”N-n-no ma’am!” Hauggle stammered. “I was just leading her back to the beginning, like you wanted.”

Waverly gasped, betrayed. “You were _what?!”_

“Very good, Hauggle.” Jolene leered at Waverly. “And as for you, angelcakes—how are you liking my labyrinth?”

Waverly gulped. “It’s a piece of cake,” she said confidently.

”Really? Then perhaps you need more of a challenge then.” Jolene smirked nastily at her. Then she turned and threw the orb down into the depths of the dark tunnel.

Hauggle gasped. “What have you done?”

Jolene cackled and disappeared.

”What is that?” Waverly asked, squinting down the tunnel as a object rapidly approached them, emitting clanking and sputtering noises.

”It’s the _cleaners!_ ” Hauggle yelped. She whineyed fearfully. “Run!”

Waverly took off after the much faster unicorn. She looked over her shoulder and saw a big metal apparatus with gleaming teeth snapping at her. She gasped and ran faster.

Hauggle skidded to a halt ahead of her. There was a big metal grate in their way, chained up and blocking their path. “It’s a dead end!”

”What do we do?!” Waverly cried.

Hauggle looked around. “Stand back,” she said. She backed up, then galloped at the opposite wall and pounded it down with her hooves. The boarded up wall fell, revealing a side passage. Waverly and Hauggle dove inside just in time: the cleaners came chugging by, and passed by the two girls harmlessly.

Hauggle huffed. “That was a close one.”

Waverly flicked her ear.

”Ow!” yelped Hauggle. “What was that for?!”

”For helping the Queen and leading me back to the beginning!” Waverly replied angrily.

”I wasn’t _really_ taking you back to the beginning,” Hauggle whispered. “I only said that so she wouldn’t send me to the Bog of Eternal Stench.”

Waverly’s eyes widened. “Ohh...”

“Come on, let’s get out of here. We’re wasting time.”

* * *

After they emerged from the sewers, they reappeared among the Labyrinth’s stone walls. “You see?” said Hauggle, pointing a hoof at the castle, which was much closer now.

”Okay, okay, I believe you,” Waves smiled, hugging the unicorn around her neck. “I’m sorry I flicked you. Now, let’s go-“

Suddenly, there was an anguished shriek not too far off. “Oh my god!” Waverly said, stepping away from the unicorn. “Someone’s in trouble. We have to help them!”

”Uh uh,” said Hauggle, backing away nervously. “What if _we_ get in the same trouble? I’m staying out of it.”

”Hauggle-“

”Sorry, Waverly...I’m just too much of a coward, I guess.”

”Hauggle!” Waverly shouted as the unicorn turned and galloped away.


End file.
